PART IV - DARK CLOUDS
And then the bombs fell! Callie had sighted the volley in on the one-hundred meter target, spreading the area-of-effect to its maximum size of six meters. However, she watched Pelidri’s expression closely, rather than the explosions, trying to gauge his reaction in real time. He was completely emotionless, simply watching with twitching eyes. It was really hard to tell whether he was impressed, or even cared, for that matter, as if he was distracted.
The cacophony of explosions roared out, the first few instantly obliterating the target and the rest then continuing into an ever-deepening pit. Grass, sand and dirt was thrown in all directions. A glance at Nevikk showed the boy staring wide-eyed and wide-mouthed at what was happening, his arms splayed out like wings as he covered his pointed ears with his upside-down palms. Callie couldn’t help but beam at her destruction, part of her imagining using it against a horde of oncoming Demons on the battlefield. Still, Pelidri’s coldness tugged her attention back, and she struggled to try to understand what was bothering him.
It took only a couple seconds for the carpet bombing to conclude. Pelidri uncovered his ears as the echos circled the area, returning one hand to rubbing his beard, and then side-stepping just slightly as a clod of muddy grass and dirt landed with a floppy splut where he’d just been standing. He didn’t even acknowledge it, making him seem even more imposing.
“That was amazing!” Nevikk screamed in excitement, bouncing up and down while his father tried to hold him still. Nobody really noticed him as all eyes were on the Arkan, hoping for a positive verdict this time.
“You understand its usefulness now?” Koda said, his voice even more laced with an angry growl. “She may be small, but she’s damn mighty!”
“Recruit!” Xera said sternly, putting their hand on the Paladin’s arm. His tone was out of line, no matter his background before coming here.
“Perhaps …” the Arkan said, his focus still down the field as he continued to rub his face.
“As you can see, there is a great deal of flexibility with this perk,” Thorn said, trying hard to be more diplomatic. “I believe it will prove quite effective once she reaches the front.”
“Very likely,” Pelidri replied with a sigh, before shifting his attention to Callie. “I trust you to use it well.”
“Absolutely,” Callie replied, but the forced grin was getting a little difficult. It might not have been enthusiastic praise, but apparently she had to be willing to take what little she could get from the Arkan. It was irritating though. She’d seen him gush with excited emotion towards other recruits when they had shown him their unique capabilities, and she couldn’t understand why she wasn’t getting at least some kind of an approval in response. Maybe she could talk to Thorn or Xera at some point to get their feedback as to what she did wrong. She must have done something wrong or annoyed him in some way. Maybe he didn’t like the turret bots? Maybe he didn’t like her? Did he maybe not like Gnomes?
The Arkan made one last glance down the range at the devastation. “I’ve seen all I need to,” he said curtly, and then turned to abruptly shoulder his way between Xera and Thorn. He walked stiffly towards the gathered crowd of people, which parted before him to make way. Then, he stopped, looking over everyone. Mostly, the onlookers were other recruits, mixed with a few visitors.
“How many recruits here have reached Silver?” Pelidri asked the crowd.
There were about five or six paws or hands that went up, including Shul’an. The Salamanderkin hadn’t made it the day before, so they must have received the rank up that morning.
“How many of those that have reached that tier have received new off-class or melded powers? And how many?”
A few numbers were called out as hands remained raised, the lowest being just one, and the highest being Shul’an with four. Callie caught her friend’s eyes and gave them a giddy thumbs up in congratulations. Still, Pelidri was the center of attention, and you could sense his irritation was growing exponentially, for some unknown reason.
“Did any of you receive zero?” Looks were exchanged between the recruits, but nobody spoke up.
Pelidri just stared at everyone, and then turned to look back at Callie and the rest. No, he didn’t just look, he actually glared. Callie had no idea what it was, but the Arkan was definitely genuinely pissed about something. There was a long silence, nobody quite sure what to say or do, and the air grew heavy. Saying nothing, Pelidri finally simply turned and stormed off, shaking his head. He slowed just long enough to glance at the returning Jesca riding by, before he disappeared down the hill, a dark storm-cloud seeming to follow him.
“What was that about?” Thorn asked. He looked at Koda, who had been a little sour towards the Arkan, but that couldn’t be it, or at least not all of it.
“I have no idea,” Xera replied. So far on this visit, Pelidri had been nothing but smiles and happy, so this abrupt change wasn’t just unexpected, it felt completely out of character.
“Did I do something wrong?” Callie asked. “I was just trying to make it fun showing him everything. I didn’t mean to make him mad.”
“I can’t see how it was you,” Thorn said. “It must be something else.”
Callie found little relief in Thorn’s assurances, though. Watching the other recruits demonstrate their skills, the Arkan had been happy and complementary. Almost gushing, in fact. Then as soon as she started showing off her Ranger powers, his mood completely changed. Something she did or said must have angered him.
The clopping sounds of Artemis drew everyone’s attention. Jesca, accompanied by Shul’an and Thucax, had dismounted and was approaching on foot, Artemis returned to normal size and dutifully walking along behind. Iris had also found them, and was now firmly perched back on Jesca’s shoulder. “What did you do, Callie?”
“I dunno,” Callie replied. “And why did you assume it’s me?” She saw the look on her friend’s face. “Okay, I get that,” she added, rolling her eyes.
“I could talk with him?” Thorn suggested.
“No, let me. I think it would be better if I do, since we’re of equal rank,” Xera said flatly. “It is perplexing, though.”
“If I said or did something, let me know, okay?” Callie said. “I want to apologize if it was.”
“We’ll give him some time to … to cool off.” Xera turned and looked to Jesca, forcing a change of subject. “Were you aware she could teleport? Or was that something Beastmaster related?”
“It wasn’t me,” Jesca eeped defensively, holding up her paws. Then she gestured towards Artemis. “She didn’t know she could do that either, and was just as surprised. Thankfully we didn’t crash into anything at the other end, or worse, appear inside of something. Ambria said that can happen if you aren’t careful.”
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Xera frowned in thought. “Perhaps it’s a question Reynard, Rowani or Maugra might be able to answer, given all they have seen and learned from their adventuring days, but I’ve never heard of unicorns being able to teleport, either.“
“Jorin’s here, too, for that matter,” Thorn added. “He’s seen at least as much as Maugra.”
Xera considered for another moment, before saying, “Recruit, I want you to work with Trainer Winnu. As you said, Combat Healers receive a teleport, and there are some dangers to be aware of. Winnu would also be able to evaluate the unicorn to determine how often she is able to use the ability, and what other limitations it may have. You’ll certainly want to understand it fully, especially since you can assume her form as well, and presumably inherit the same capability.”
“Yes, Commandant,” Jesca replied sharply.
Xera looked to Shul’an. “Congratulations on reaching Silver, Recruit. It’s been a long road for you, as you were already Bronze when you arrived, correct?”
“That’s right, Commandant,” the Ranger replied. “I’m just happy I finally made it. I had hoped to beat everyone else, but those combat missions put Jesca and Callie ahead of me.” Then they added, “Actually, Jesca’s been nothing but focused all along.”
“How close are you, Thucax?” Callie asked the Gnoll.
“983,” he replied with a grouch. “I didn’t think I’d reach it today, but part of me was still hoping. Next week for sure, though.”
The big demonstrations apparently over and the Arkan gone, the crowd had largely dispersed, wandering off to find something else to do. Callie wasn’t sure the exact time, but the lunch bell was probably at least an hour off, so there was time people still needed to kill.
“Since the theme of the morning appears to be melded skills and perks, tell me, Recruit, what did you receive?” Xera asked Shul’an.
“In addition to my base Ranger powers, I also received a total of four melded skills.” The Salamanderkin looked down to Callie. “You’ve spoken in training about the idea that our Symbiotes learn from each other. I was skeptical, but now I am slightly less so.”
“Oh?” Thorn said, raising a furry eyebrow.
Shul’an nodded in confirmation, adding, “I received a skill called Explosive Shot, which is melded from both Piercing and Burst shots. From the description, it seems almost identical to Callie’s layered attack made up of the same two skills. Medium mana usage and two charges, with a thirty second recharge. I won’t know until I use it, of course.”
“Didn’t you say you specifically asked your worm … I forget the new name you just gave him … if he could teach others about your layering perk?” Jesca asked.
“Morpheus,” Callie clarified. Then she added for the rest of those present, “the god of dreams. It seemed fitting.” She looked back to Jesca, and her face became perplexed as she tried to recall what she’d been told. “He said he couldn’t do that, because none of you have Tinker. But he did mention something about maybe being able to pass on a subset of that skill. Maybe that’s what happened here?”
Without preamble, Xera gestured towards what was left of the Ranger range. “Since Callie has destroyed most of it, what’s a little more. Pick a target and see what happens.”
“Of course, Commandant,” Shul’an said. They walked a few steps forward, calling up their bow and aiming downrange. As they pulled back, the arrow that appeared was a deep, angry red, rather than the normal yellowish white. They loosed, and the arrow flew long towards the seventy-five meter target. It had been beaten up a bit by the concussive force and debris of Callie’s artillery barrage, but was still largely standing. The arrow struck, a single explosion erupting and blasting what remained of the target apart.
“That looks familiar,” Thucax said. “It looks exactly like Callie’s, actually.”
“It sure does,” Callie confirmed, “except for the arrow color. Congrats, Shul’an!”
“Thank you,” the Salamanderkin replied. “I know from watching Callie during the Bogwump fight how useful this will be.” They made a sudden wincing expression and looked weakened. “First time using it, though, so quite draining,” they added before anyone could ask what was wrong.
“Do you need a potion?” Thorn asked.
“I don’t believe so, I have mana left, but I’ll refrain from any more attempts for now.”
Callie’s head was reeling a bit with Shul’an’s new power. She was absolutely sure it was just as her fellow Ranger had suggested, and Morpheus had been able to teach Shul’an’s Symbiote how to make this sub-spell. It was a good choice, too. Her layered-up Explosive Shot was one of Callie’s most-destructive two-layer combinations, and had been incredibly useful in both the Bogwump and Elemental fights. Obviously more so when combined with an additional layer, or two in the case of the boss Elemental, but even a single shot was quite something. It immediately made her wonder about Shul’an’s other new ones. “What else did you get? At least the descriptions of them?”
Shul’an seemed to flush, almost with embarrassment. “Three others. Terror Shot, Shadow Veil, and Shadowstep. It seems I have a rather dark theme happening with most of my melded powers. It’s actually a bit unsettling, in a way.”
Per the description, the effect of Terror Shot caused those around the point of impact to flee in … well, to flee in terror. Thorn pointed out it seemed very similar to a Warlock’s Curse of Fear spell, but attached to an arrow for delivery. Callie, in turn, reasoned out loud that someone’s Warlock Symbiote must have shared notes, possibly Fynisse’s since she was in the same bunkhouse as Shul’an. As follow-up orders, Thorn pointed Shul’an to Trainer Terrin to review the skill and for the first few tests, just to assure there wasn’t anything unexpected.
Shul’an’s other two skills seemed somewhat related to each other, in that they both used shadows as part of their function. According to the description, Shadow Veil closely resembled the Camouflage skill that the Duelists and Jesca received, in that it allowed the user to nearly-perfectly blend into the background, providing the area they were in had no light directed on it. What that meant for indirect light, or how much it might take to break the pseudo-invisibility, was a little fuzzy. Like Camouflage, the effect would also only work on natural materials, or items that were inside of natural materials. This would require a re-evaluation of what weapons Shul’an would use, possibly needing to replace their steel swords with Ironwood, despite the loss of durability, if they wanted to maximize the effect, or at least replacing the hilts on their swords with the wood or other suitable material.
As for Shadowstep, the skill allowed the caster to teleport from one shadowed location to another. Like the Veil skill, what actually qualified as ‘shadow’ and ‘direct light’ was pretty vague, but at least by description the usefulness was immediately apparent. Thucax suggested that the effect of Shul’an’s Arrow of Darkness, which Shul’an had arrived with, would likely count as a shadowed destination, and that reminded the Salamanderkin that they had received additional improvements to that skill. It now had two charges in addition to the caster having the ability to see outwards while standing inside the effect. If Thucax’s teleportation suggestion held, that meant Shul’an would be able to pick his destination with one arrow, and plant a second right at his feet as a starting point, despite any light that might otherwise spoil the travel.
“All of these ‘shadow’ and darkness skills make me feel a little like a Warlock,” Shul’an said with a bit of a wry grin. “I am not sure why it’s bothering me.”
“Bah, don’t sweat it,” Callie grinned. “Warlocks just have a bad reputation. But if it holds, maybe you'll get lucky and receive some kind of summoned creature skill when you reach Gold to complete the look. Some kind of cuddly shadow-based pet, maybe?”
Jesca snickered, glancing at Artemis, empathizing with the threat of receiving a pet.
“We could call you the ‘Shadow Ranger’,” Thucax added. “Build you up a scary reputation, maybe?”
“We are fighting Demons,” Shul’an laughed. “They are not going to be frightened by some spooky nickname.”
“Sure. But once you’re done there, you could become a bounty hunter or Adventurer. People would fear you across the land when the evil, spooky ‘Shadow Ranger’ comes for them.” Thucax grinned, twiddling his finger in the air and adding a bit of an evil laugh to the mix. The teasing was a little uncharacteristic for him, and it was fun to see. It had taken the Gnoll quite a while to relax and start contributing to the joking that kept things light, but it turned out his sense of humor was a lot of fun when it finally came out.
“All the same, Recruit,” Xera said, interrupting the banter, “I do believe all your new skills have quite the potential, even though they may require rethinking some of your fighting tactics. Reach out to the Duelist trainer for testing your new Veil skill, at least to learn where the light limitations may lie. For Shadowstep, join with Recruit Jesca in working with the Combat Healers on teleport training. Congratulations again.”
“Thank you, Commandant.”
Xera frowned, looking again back towards the top of the hill. “You must all excuse me. I believe I will go speak with the Arkan. I'm quite perplexed by his response, and while I’m sure there is an explanation, I’d like to make any amends, if needed. A good day to you all.”
“Make sure to let me know if I did something,” Callie reminded Xera. “I know he’s important and I don't want him to leave with a bad impression.”
“While you certainly do make an impression, Little One,” Xera said as they walked away, looking back with a smile, “it is seldom bad. At least eventually, that is. I will inform you if a response is required, however.”